(DailyDig.com) – An IRS monitor has reported that the agency has received complaints about its inaction in responding to instances of identity theft.
After the IRS got a huge budget boost in August 2022 from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, the 2024 filing season went off without a hitch. The report includes metrics on the federal tax collector’s efficiency in responding to phone calls, processing refund checks, and other metrics.
Since the previous report in January, when the time it took to settle self-reported identity theft cases was over 19 months, the situation has become worse. With almost half a million instances still pending as of April, the IRS waited nearly 22 months to settle these disputes. Victims of identity theft may already be struggling financially due to complications like delayed tax payments; further harm might come to them.
Erin M. Collins, head of the agency tasked with safeguarding taxpayer rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, said that IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are “unconscionable.”
After a period of pessimism, the IRS is now looking forward with confidence to the future of the agency and, by extension, taxpayers.
There is a chance that the IRS will lose some of the $80 billion it got from the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRS was set to lose $20 billion over the next two years and have that money redirected to other nondefense programs. Additionally, the agency had $1.4 billion slashed from its budget as part of last year’s debt ceiling and budget cutbacks compromise.
Since the IRS was discovered in 2013 to have investigated political organizations seeking tax-exempt status, particularly right-wing organizations, additional funding for the agency has been a contentious political issue. This occurred while Obama was in office. According to a study from the Treasury Department’s internal inspector, both liberal and conservative groups were selected for careful examination. Cynics say that this conclusion was made by a biased inspector, and Lois Lerner, the scapegoat in the scandal, was herself left-wing.
The Internal Revenue Service has improved taxpayer services, but it is still taking too long to settle incidents of identity theft.
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